Whole Lotta Writing: Marathons and ROW80 - Plus Usborne's Anniversary, Reisa Stone, and the Hockey Night in Canada SongQuest

Lotta writing happening, and NaNoWriMo isn't even here yet!

First up, there's a writers' marathon taking place on the Forum!

We're going to have three rounds I think, as as sort of warm-up to NaNo; first round is 11 to 13 October.
"The idea is to set aside all non-essential activities and spend the time writing instead. Feel free to set your own goals -- word count, pages, number of hours, number of scenes written -- whatever works best for you. A specific goal is not required, though.
Each mini-marathon will have its own thread, where you can briefly post progress reports and itsy-bitsy snippets of something you wrote during the marathon, if you like. The marathon will begin in October 11 at 12:01 am (00:01 if you're on a 24-hour clock) local time. That means your local time. And that also means that members will not all be on the same clock together, but that's OK, even though it means our down-under members will start sooner than the rest of us."
Also, this week marks the start of the final round of A Round of Words in Eighty Days for this year, which happens to be the third year of ROW80 and so this is the twelfth round overall.

Looking back to the very first round in January 2011, here's what I had to say:
"Your goal, whatever it is, should be MEASURABLE.
Your goal should be broken down into chunks.
You should make a post on your blog clearly stating your goals and linking to it in the Round of Words Linky Tool list.
My measurable goals is to get closer and closer to a final draft. I can edit about 800 words in one day (based on how I did last week), so in 80 days, I should be able to do half my novel!
Chunks: Okay, for the next two weeks, my specific goals are to edit three snips so well that I can post them in the Toolbox and Exercises on the forum, and have a snip left over for broadcasting on my blog and on Facebook."
I'd forgotten about the chunk idea, and I really like the way I phrased the editing process - fixing the story so that it's in a fit state to be shared with others.

So my measurable goals for this round are to:

1. Finish typing up Captive of the Sea in October
2. Draft the Alice and George story during NaNoWriMo
3. Do more research

Broken down into chunks this means I will:

1. Type 700-1000 words per day on Captive of the Sea, except during marathon weekends when I hope to get a lot more done!

2. Write at least 1667 (the NaNo bare minimum) every day in November

3. Search for research materials on Google (especially the Paston letters from the 15th Century and books published c. 1910-1913, as well as newspaper archives for those years) and splurge on some Folio Society books, especially this one:


Speaking of publishers, Usborne Publishing is celebrating its 40th anniversary!

I remember reading some of their history and science compilations as a kid, as well as this book on Greek myths by Evslin, Evslin, and Hoopes:


Usborne have got lots of fun stuff for kids and teachers on their website, and for readers too!

I like these bookmarks:


And don't forget, Neil Gaiman's All Hallow's Read is coming!
"All Hallow's Read is a Hallowe'en tradition. It's simply that in the week of Hallowe'en, or on the night itself, you give someone a scary book."
You have until Friday to enter the art contest!

In non-Hallowe'en book news, author Reisa Stone has two new stories, "Breathe" and "I'll See You", published in the latest Chicken Soup book, Miraculous Messages From Heaven. I love Reisa's message for her books: "I hope they'll inspire you to understand that love never dies."

Now for some musical stuff!

 Hockey Night in Canada on CBC (which is, I guess, the Canadian equivalent of the BBC, as in it's a state-owned channel) is running a contest!
"Hockey Night in Canada Song Quest is on the hunt for songs that celebrate what hockey is about: teamwork, commitment, hard work and going for the goal."
Whisky Trench Riders have two awesome songs in the contest!


Please like/vote/share the word, if you can! The best is to play and like directly through the SongQuest profile pages (you don't have to log in, except through Facebook) so that all votes get recorded. Thanks for your help!

If we reach 100 plays on each song within the next two weeks, I'll do a book giveaway!

not one of these but something equally good!

Are you looking forward to Hallowe'en?
Have you changed your writing goals recently?

Comments

J.L. Murphey said…
I decided not to participate this month. While before my stroke 50K in a couple of weeks was no problem with me writing so I never saw the sense in joining NANOWRIMO each year. Now I'm hard pressed to write 1K in a couple of weeks. I no longer do well under added pressure. But Good luck to you.
Good luck with Nanowrimo and the marathon! I wish I could participate in either one or both, but school and my other book (my dissertation) are occupying most of my time. I really do need to make more time for fiction writing, though. I'm not really doing anything for Halloween, though I do plan on buying my own candy once the post-Halloween sales start up. :)
Your husband's band entered two song? That's awesome! I wish them luck.
J.L. Campbell said…
Man, you have quiet a round up here. By the sound of things, you've been doing well with all things writing. Gotta admire you writers of historical fiction who do so much research.
Anonymous said…
Good luck with the newest ROW80! And with the Canadian Hockey Night song. I'm going to a hockey game on Saturday, so I'll be sure to hum those songs while trying not to watch the fights.

-Vicki
Unknown said…
I'm definitely doing NaNo this year--I like the camaraderie of the month, and even though I usually don't get 50K, I still get a lot of work done.

Good luck to the WTR on their songs! I hope they win! :)
Nas said…
All the best to the band.

I have too much going on. And no confidence yet for NaNo under the pen name!

Nas
LR said…
I love Halloween! Always look forward to it.

This is a nice time of year for writing too, I find. Not doing Nano but plenty of other things to work on :)
Deniz Bevan said…
Aww, thanks Jo! Really enjoyed your snips for the September X!

Ha ha! I can't wait for post-Hallowe'en chocolate, Neurotic!

Two awesome songs, Alex! If I do say so myself :-) Thanks for the luck wishes!

Thanks Joy! I can't help it - I love reading about stuff. It's like all the things I wanted to learn in history and English classes and now I can discover them myself - without an exam!

Yay, thanks Vicki! Have fun at the game!

Thanks Lara! We're already friends on the NaNo site, right?

Aww, but NaNo is fun, Nas! If you do it my way - on paper, you don't have to show anybody, just tell them it's not ready until you've typed it up!

It's great to have so many projects, isn't it, Lee? :-)
Ambitious! I am thoroughly impressed. All the best with ROW80 and NaNoWriMo. See ya when you come up for air. :)
Arlee Bird said…
All this writing going on and what am I doing? Writing blog posts. Well, it's writing.

Love those Folio Society books.

Lee
A Faraway View
Anonymous said…
Good luck with your goals. You can do it.

I love the bookmarks.

I'm going to change my goals for November.
I like the idea of buying a scary book for someone the eve before Halloween.

You have big writing plans. You're so focused. I'm sure you can achieve them. Good luck!
We love Usborne Books here! We've got maybe a dozen, and would love to have more.

The ones with the resource links are awesome. My 9 year old is fascinated with venomous creatures. Through the links in her Usborne Snakes book, we listened to a rattlesnake's rattle. On the wall in my study is a wonderful poster of great scientists that was a bonus with one of our Usborne books.

At our annual unschooling conference, there is often an Usborne dealer stationed just outside the door to the main presentation room....a profitable spot, for sure!

I think I'll pop over and check out your marathon. I wrote some nice words, yesterday...today will be more about NaNo planning, but there may be some writing, too...I have big October plans! =)

I love the name Canadianthem! Best of luck to the band!
Misha Gerrick said…
I set some goals for October, but I'm not sure if I'll make them. Publishing seems to have messed up my productivity.
Anonymous said…
Lately, I've been neck-deep in the revision trenches, but I hope to climb back aboard my yearly 1K/day goal. Write1Sub1 helps me stay on track.
Nas said…
Hi Deniz,

That time traveller's guide looks wonderful, I'm fascinated by medieval England.
Deniz Bevan said…
Thanks so much everyone!
I feel behind on blog rounds this past week and I really missed you all! Got lots of visiting to do :-)